Broadway’s ‘Newsies’ in the black

Disney musical recoups investment

Disney Theatrical Prods. announced Thursday that the Broadway production of “Newsies” has recouped its investment in just over nine months — the fastest a Disney production has ever turned a profit.

In 41 weeks of performances to date, nearly 400,000 people have attended the show at the Nederlander Theater. It’s broken the weekly box office house record six times and regularly ranked among Broadway’s top 10.

The show garnered eight Tony nominations, with wins for original score and choreography. The Broadway cast album recently received a Grammy nod.

“We are thrilled that Broadway audiences have embraced the show as they have. It’s a testament to the power of this story of young people uniting to fight for what’s right,” said Thomas Schumacher, producer and president of Disney Theatrical Prods. “We believed deeply in the show, but a year ago, we really didn’t see this coming so quickly.”

“Newsies” is inspired by the real-life Newsboy Strike of 1899 when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsboys on a two-week-long strike against Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.